Sole Origins

I had the pleasure to be featured in the current episode of Complex's 
Sole Origins!




I had a great time with the @calico_incand @zen team filming this and 
really like the outcome. 
Great job @justinrching@dannyleeworks @karimwasabi @budgerodriguez 
and everyone involved in this!
Although you hear me talking about Hikmet’s store being one of the first 
where sneaker enthusiasts would hang out, I actually was talking about
@mad.flavor.sneakerstore when I made this statement, but it must have 
gotten mixed up in postproduction.
Hikmet‘s influence on putting Berlin on the world sneaker map is obviously 
undeniable and beautifully described in the episode.
Unfortunately Niklas the owner of Mad Flavor (and former employer of 
Hikmet as seen in picture no 5) did not make the final cut, but I think it 
is vital to pay respect to the people who came before this sneaker culture 
turned mainstream and paved the road for current business, like
@mad.flavor.sneakerstore or Downstairs did.
None of us featured here got where we are, without building on what 
people who came before us created and cultivated. And none of us would 
be where we are today, without the support of many individuals who don’t 
take the spotlight. So thank you to all those hard working and passionate 
characters behind the scene - you are sneaker culture!

Nike Double Team Hi

Via ebay 

Nike Air Ship

Via ebay

Schuhs 2.0

Here are some impressions of the Schuhs 2.0 event.
Unfortunately I could not attend the event myself, as I had to work, but 
it looked like a lot of fun and I am hoping for many more events to come 
in the future.
Big up to Hikmet for keeping the community spirit alive!

Puma History; The Olympic Games in Munich, 1972

At the 1972 Olympia Massacre in Munich, the german police failed 

miserably to free Israeli hostages from the Palestinian terrorists group 

„Black September", partly because they did not ban the press from 

the olympic village and therefore the eight terrorists were able to 

watch the police approach the building on TV. 

Maybe you have seen pictures of those Olympics, maybe you are even 

old enough to have seen it live on TV. Apart from all the atrocities and 

failures that the worlds witnessed that day, a certain detail always 

made me wonder; why did the police team wear Puma tracksuits 

during their deployment on the olympic campus? 

Officially, the attack of the 'Black September' in is considered to be the 

birth of the GSG 9th Infantry Division in the Federal Republic of 

Germany. The truth however is, that this elite reaction force already 

existed in Germany in 1972, but was not used in Munich because it was 

to remain secret during the Cold War. (german source)

Part of the police team that conducted the mission in Munich, was the 

then 24 year old border patrol official Helmut Fischer from Herzogen-

aurach. When they arrived at the olympic village, they wanted to blend 

in to not instantly alarm the terrorists, so Fischer (who had good contacts 

to Puma being from the same town as the renowned sports brand) ran 

down to the Puma Shop and asked employee and friend Irmgard Hacker 

to equip the team with some tracksuits. (german source)

Fischer later became head of advertisement at Puma, celebrated his 40th 

anniversary as an employee of the company in 2018 and is senior advisor 

and in charge of the archive today.

Nike Astral

These beautiful Nike Astral from 1987 are on ebay, right now.
I am not sure if I should be happy or sad, they are not my size...